Jasti Chelameswar, C.J.

1. The four appellants are petitioners in WP(C) No. 1355/2008, which was dismissed by an order, dated 25.7.2008, alongwith a number of other writ petitions, which were clubbed together and heard by the learned Judge as certain common questions arose.

2. Essentially, the question, with reference to each of the appellants herein, is whether he or she is a 'citizen' of India or a 'foreigner' within the meaning of the expression "foreigner", as defined under Section 2(a) of the Foreigners Act, 1946, which reads:

2(a) "foreigner means a person, who is not a citizen of India.

3. The definition is couched in negative language. Therefore, it becomes necessary to examine whether a person is a citizen of India or not in order to determine whether the person is a foreigner or not. However, the expression "citizen" is not defined in any statute.

4. Who is a citizen of India? The law, on this aspect, is contained in Part-II of the Constitution. Articles 5 to 11 thereof deal with the citizenship of this country. Article 5 declares as follows:

5. Citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution. - At the commencement of this constitution every person who has his domic